Douglassville Cemetery
Douglassville, Cass County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Williamson Petty (1820-61), Sulphur River ferryman, donated land for this cemetery from a claim which he settled in 1850. Col. John C. Douglass (1818-63), from Georgia, bought in 1855 all of the Petty claim not previously reserved for school and church. The cemetery took its name from his town of Douglassville. The earliest legible stone (1859) marks the grave site of Mrs. Henrietta Cook and her infant twins. Additional land was acquired in 1928 and 1939. The cemetery has about 400 graves and a governing association.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This East Texas burying ground began with land donated by Williamson Petty, a Sulphur River ferryman who settled his claim in 1850. In 1855 Col. John C. Douglass of Georgia bought the rest of Petty's claim, and the growing cemetery took the name of his town, Douglassville. Its earliest legible stone, from 1859, marks the grave of Henrietta Cook and her infant twins, among some 400 burials still tended by a cemetery association.
Why it matters
Pioneer cemeteries preserve the names and losses of the families who first broke the ground of frontier communities, anchoring a town's memory long after its founders are gone.
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Related people
- · Williamson Petty
- · John C. Douglass
- · Henrietta Cook
Themes & tags
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